Massage Glove for Hairdressing

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a glove ( 10 ) for the hairdressing equipment comprising a waterproof shell ( 20 ), in which a plurality of fingers tubes ( 21; 22; 23; 24; 25 ) are formed, wherein a surface ( 32 ) on the outer side of the waterproof shell ( 20 ) is designed such that it is suitable for, but also comfortable touching the surface ( 32 ) with the head of a human.

The invention relates to a glove for the hairdressing equipment comprising a waterproof shell in which several fingers hoses are formed. Such gloves are worn by barbers or hairdressers at work, for example during the washing of hair, to protect the hands from harmful effects of substances used in this case or to be washed out hair cleaning, hair coloring and hair care products. The material of the gloves should therefore be impermeable for the substances in question, while for protection against skin maceration during constant we work waterproof gloves would be sufficient.

Currently available gloves for this purpose are usually latex, nitrile or PVC gloves. The gloves offered today can have a smooth but also a slightly ribbed surface. This surface may further be truncated as in the latex and nitrile gloves, or rather slippery as the PVC glove.

However, the surfaces of the gloves used in the washing of the hair are far less than satisfactory for the hairdresser customers. Besides the pure washing process a more or less intensive scalp massage is given usually, whereas a head wash with the bare hand normally is perceived as more pleasant than a contact with a glove made of the above materials. In addition to the modified skin feel some customers also feel a tweet with the use of traditional protective gloves, which can affect the experience of hair washing considerably. For this reason, very commonly gloves are not or just rarely used despite the conflicting provisions of the professional association.

Unfortunately, this means that the skin protection for employees in hairdressing salons significantly stays behind the necessary degree. As customers partly feel unpleasant to get their head washed with a glove, and therefore make inquiries or ask for a hair wash without gloves, the employee becomes more uncertain and the threshold for use of gloves increases even further.

The object of the invention is therefore to provide a glove for hairdressing equipment, which protects the skin of the glove wearing employee reliably, while on the other hand reasons for non-usage of the glove on the side of hairdresser customers are reduced.

According to the invention, this object is achieved by a glove according to the independent claim 1. Advantageous further developments of this glove will be apparent from the dependent claims 2-16.

According to the invention, a glove for the hairdressing equipment is provided, which includes a waterproof shell in which several fingers hoses are formed. This is therefore a glove whose fingers hoses can be pulled over the fingers of one hand. Here this shell of the glove is waterproof, so that a user's hand is at least protected from moisture from the outside. The surface on the outer side of the glove is also designed in a way, that it is suitable for and beyond that also comfortable touching the surface of a human's head. For this purpose this surface may be designed in different ways, thus reducing the causes for a non-projection of the glove on the side of hairdresser customers, since he/she no longer senses the contact with the surface to be unpleasant.

In one embodiment of the invention, a pleasant sensation by touching the surface with the head of a human being can at least be achieved by massage structures on the surface. Such massage structures may be formed for example on the surface by a plurality of elevations. In particular, these elevations may take the form of nobs, but they can also be formed in any other species, as long as they meet some sort of massage function. This means that at least locally a pressure on the head of the customer can be applied as it would not be possible with a smooth surface. This massage function makes the wash experience with the glove enjoyable for the customer.

For example, with a nubby surface the glove can achieve a very pleasant and circulation-stimulating effect on the scalp of the client. Since the contact surface is comparatively low due to the bumpy structure, even a lower sense of hair tweeting is created by the customer. With massage structures the washing glove becomes a hand tool that is suitable for gentle stimulation of blood flow to the scalp and rubbing in active ingredients. Now the glove is not merely a means of protection of the employee any longer, but can be used as a hand tool, which contributes to the wellness experience for the customer.

The elevations or nubs can be configured relatively hard or soft. While hard elevations hardly give in to the head of hairdresser customers at pressure, soft elevations at pressure can press and/or bent together. The elevations may also differ by structures on the surface varying in degrees of hardness and types. Thus, different massage effects can be achieved in different areas of the glove.

The elevations can have a polygonal or round, in particular a circular cross-section and may be distributed regularly or irregularly on the surface. For example, it may be advantageous that in critical areas a greater density of elevations on the surface is provided than in other areas. In particular, it might be useful to provide massage structures only in the area of the fingers and/or only at a lower side of the glove. The upper side of the glove could however stay free of massage structures, as this side has no contact with the head of a customer, but opposite structure on the top could lead to undesired entanglements with the hair of the customer, which in turn can lead to increased tweet.

The height of the elevations may be in a range of 0.15 mm to 10 mm, while the width in the cross-section may be in a range of 0.5 mm to 10 mm.

Preferably, the height is on the order of 0.15 mm to 8 mm, in particular between 1 mm and 5 mm. The same applies to the width of the elevations, which is preferably in the range of 0.5 mm to 8 mm, in particular between 1 mm and 5 mm. The elevations can either be directly formed in one piece from the material of the surface, or for example be attached to the surface by adhesive.

Furthermore, the elevations may consist of a different material than the rest of the surface. This is particularly advantageous if a material is well suited for the formation of a surface, but is not suitable as a pleasant massage structure.

In another embodiment of the invention, the surface consists of a textile fabric, in which the massage structures are formed. The textile fabric may be a manually or mechanically-made product or sheet of any criss-crossed thread systems. But even pile fabric or felts for example fall within the meaning of this invention, the term “tissue”, i.e. any fabric, in which an area of interconnected fibers and/or threads is formed.

The massage structures can be formed for example by protruding fibers and/or threads, knots and/or loops in the textile fabric. They are placed so out of the base of the tissue area that they are primarily in contact with the head of the customer when shampooing and so can perform a massage function by their shape and distribution.

Alternatively or in addition to the formation of massage structures to design the surface for contact with the head of a human being as pleasant, but also comfortable touching the surface with a human's head can also be achieved at least through the material of the surface. For example, the material can be chosen so that it generates low friction in contact with human hair, so as to prevent in particular an enhanced entrapment of hair on the glove and so a tweet. The material can also be an elastic plastic, in particular from the group consisting of latex, nitrile, PVC, whose surface attributes however have been changed in certain circumstances compared to conventional gloves of these materials.

It could also be advantageous that the material of the surface is a natural fiber, particularly from the group of cotton, animal wool, sisal, linen and flax. Other suitable natural fibers may be used. However, other soft tissues used in synthetic fibers can be chosen, which produce on the head of hairdresser customers a pleasant feeling.

The choice of material for the surface that comes into contact with the head of a hairdresser customers can be suitably combined with correspondingly shaped massage structures or the two measures are used separately from each other.

Regardless of the type of measures to design a not unpleasant-feeling surface, this surface may be formed by the outer surface of the waterproof shell itself, or the surface is formed by a contact sleeve which is fixedly or removably attached to the waterproof covering. In the first case it is essentially a single-layer glove, in which the outer surface of the waterproof cover is formed accordingly. Also such a glove could, however, have for example on the inside of another inner glove, a coating, etc. to increase the comfort for the user.

In the second case there is an at least two-layer glove, comprising on the inside a waterproof shell to protect the user against humidity and contact with hazardous substances. On this shell a second sleeve is then attached, which comes into contact with the hair of hairdresser customers and is designed accordingly. This outer sleeve may also be permeable to water, because the interior shell already protects the hand of moisture from the outside. If the material of the outer sleeve is not waterproof and therefore an inner glove is to be used, it may be provided that the material of the outer glove absorbs as little water as possible.

The glove as a whole should affect the skin feeling as possible only slightly, so that the hairdresser can, for example, still feel the water temperature well. For this purpose, the glove is preferably carried out so elastic that it always fits tightly to the skin. Moreover a tight-fitting glove improves the handling of goods. Furthermore, a section in form of an area inside the glove can be provided, which is configured due to its material and/or material thickness so that a hairdresser can feel the water temperature in this area well. For example, the glove is thin in this area, the material has a lower thermal resistance and/or the glove is tighter in this area than in other areas. A recess within an outer contact sleeve can also be provided, through which water can meet directly on an underlying, waterproof shell. To check the water temperature, the hairdresser can then hold his hand under a faucet so that water passes through the window.

The outer contact sleeve can be firmly attached to the inner waterproof shell, or it can be detached from this. In case of a fixed connection, it may also be in the inner waterproof shell to provide a coating on the inside of the contact sleeve. Such a coating is also regarded as a cover for the purposes of this invention. With a detachable contact this sleeve can be temporarily fixed to the inner waterproof shell, which can happen for example via buttons, Velcro fasteners, etc. However, the contact sleeve can be pulled over the waterproof inner shell simply so that two glove parts are worn on top of each other.

A releasable variant would have the advantage that the outer contact sleeve can be mounted if necessary or pulled over, and also be removed again. So it would be possible, for example, to wear the outer sleeve on top of the waterproof shell while washing hair to achieve a protection for the hands and at the same time pleasant feeling for the hairdresser customers in the process. For previous work, such as the dyeing of hair or subsequent work such as cutting no contact cover must be worn over the waterproof shell. So the protection for the hands is preserved, a specially designed contact sleeve may not be necessary under certain circumstances, if in relation to those activities no contact with the head of a customer takes place, which is perceived by a conventional glove as unpleasant.

The contact sleeve must also not completely enclose the inner waterproof shell, but it can also be so formed and pulled over the waterproof shell that only certain areas of the waterproof shell are provided with a special surface finish. As mentioned above, there may be only certain areas of the fingers and/or the underside of the glove for example.

Thus, the invention can provide a glove, which is able to effectively protect the employees in the hairdressing sector against persistent humidity of the hands and harmful substances in particular of hair cleaning, hair coloring and hair care products, and at the same time reduces the reasons for not wearing such a protective glove on the side of hairdresser customers significantly. The contact with the new glove is sensed rather as neutral, even perceived, at best, as very pleasant. Therefore, customers will no longer refuse employees wearing gloves and not even ask for a hair washing without gloves, but question even after the use of the glove due to a pleasant massage effect. The present invention thus transforms the unpleasant feeling when washing hair in a particularly pleasant experience. The threshold for the use of gloves decreases and therefore skin protection for staff in hair salons increased considerably.

Further advantages, special features and practical refinements of the invention emerge from the dependent claims and the following description of preferred embodiments with reference to the figures.

The figures show:

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a two-layer glove according to a first embodiment of the invention with massage nubs;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic cross section through the finger section of a two-layer glove according FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross section through the finger section of a single-layer glove according to a second embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross section through the finger section of a two-layer glove according to a third embodiment; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross section through the finger section of a two-layer glove according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a two-layer glove 10 according to a first embodiment of the invention with a plurality of massage nubs 31. The glove 10 includes an inner shell 20, over which a contact sleeve 30 has been pulled. To illustrate this, a finger tube 21 of the inner shell 20 is shown exposed. Further, the inner shell 20 protrudes from the outer contact sleeve 30 at the wrist.

The inner shell 20 is watertight and can for example be formed by a conventional latex, nitrile or PVC glove. In order to increase the wearing comfort or to facilitate putting it on this inner shell 20 may have a soft synthetic lining (not shown). The shell 20 forms five fingers hoses 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25, in which the fingers of one hand can be pushed. These fingers hoses 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25 open into a ball of the thumb area 26, which in turn flows into a wrist section 27 in which is located the opening for putting on the glove 10, respectively the inner shell 20. The inner shell 20 is located as tight as possible to the hand, to avoid wrinkles and air cushions, which could impair the feeling when wearing the glove 10. The glove 10 is therefore preferably provided in different sizes.

There is an outer contact sleeve 30 on top of the inner shell 20, through which the glove 10 has contact with the head of a hairdresser customers while wearing. The inner shell 20 must therefore not be configured for a pleasant perception in contact with the head of a hairdresser customers, but this is the case only for the contact sleeve 30. The inner shell 20 may be independent of their surface finish optimally designed to protect the hand against moisture and oils derived from substances with which employees of hairdressing salons are particularly come in contact with.

The contact sleeve 30 may be formed of a suitable material and/or provided with massage structures. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, for example, a plurality of elevations 31 are formed on the surface of the outer sleeve 30 for this purpose. These elevations 31 have in particular the form of nubs and are distributed all over the surface or only partially provided over the entire surface. For example, it could be provided that nubs 31 are provided only in the finger areas and parts of the ball of the thumb area, which are in contact with the scalp of a customer during a head massage. Even patterns with higher or lower density of nubs 31 per area may be appropriate. Also the size of nubs 31 may vary. For example, more nubs, bigger/smaller nubs or nubs made of harder material can be provided than in other areas.

The elevations 31 may be made of the same material as the surface of the contact sleeve 30. However, they can also be formed of a different material. For example, it may be advantageous to make the contact sleeve 30 out of a very soft and elastic material, while the elevations 31 are formed out of comparably harder material. Then due to the soft base material the glove can be put on easily, but the elevations are firm and hard enough to achieve the desired massage function. The contact sleeve 30 could be glove made of, for example, latex or nitrile, on which the integral nubs 31 made of PVC are formed. The nubs 31 may also be glued to the contact sleeve or be attached in some other suitable type.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic cross section through the finger section of a two-layer glove according to FIG. 1. Here, it can be seen that the outer contact sleeve 30 surrounds the inner watertight shell 20, while a plurality of elevations 31 are formed in the form of nubs. The surface 32, which is to be perceived as pleasant in contact with the head of a customer, is thus formed on the contact sleeve 30. In a single-layer glove, as illustrated for a finger tube in a schematic cross-section in FIG. 3, the surface 32, which is to be perceived as pleasant in contact with the head of a customer, is on the other hand formed directly on the waterproof shell 20. Thus, there is no additional outer shell, but the previously made explanations about a two-layer glove and its design, material and shaping of the surface 32 and the elevations 31 apply here analogously.

Also in this single-layer version, the surface 32 may be provided with elevations 31 in the form of nubs, to achieve a massage function. However, the surface 32 in this embodiment may also be configured in its material so that it feels more comfortable as is the case of a conventional glove. Therefore, the protection of the hand must be ensured and at the same time contact with it should most possibly not be sensed unpleasant. Against this single layer embodiment a two-layer embodiment therefore has the advantage that the various properties need not be met by a single material, but each envelope must only fulfill their specific function.

In addition to elevations in the form of nubs on the surface 32 a variety of other shapes of massage structures can be realized. For example, the outer contact sleeve 30 could consist of a woven fabric of filaments, as is schematically shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 4 shows again a schematic cross-section through the finger portion of a two-layer glove. From the fabric 30 a plurality of loops 31′ protrude on the top, which can also fulfil a massage function with an appropriate choice of the thread. However, it can also be provided that the fabric 30 has no large elevations, but is only perceived as pleasant as a relatively soft material.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment, in which nubs 31 are formed on the inner waterproof shell 20. These nubs 31 protrude through recesses in an outer fabric 30, so that they form massage structures on an outer surface 32. Besides these nubs 31 the head of a customer then only has contact with the fabric 30, which again may be provided very soft and comfortable. The nubs 31, however, can be made of the same plastic as the waterproof inner shell 20, or the inner shell 20 is formed for example as an elastic latex or nitrile glove, on which the integral nubs 31 are formed of PVC. For example, they can be glued on the inner shell 20.

Furthermore, it can be provided in a further embodiment of the invention that elevations 31 are formed on the inner waterproof shell 20, and this inner shell is completely surrounded by an outer contact sleeve 30 at least in the area with the elevations 31. The outer contact sleeve 30 is configured such that the elevations 31 are able to push out the contact sleeve 30 towards the outside at certain points. This means that corresponding elevations are also formed on the outside of the contact sleeve 30, which can then be used for massage purposes. The elevations on the inner shell 20 thus have no direct contact with the head and the hair of a customer like the embodiment of FIG. 4, but they serve to create corresponding elevations on the outside of the contact sleeve 30, which then consist of the same material as the contact sleeve 30. If the contact sleeve 30 is formed for example of a soft and comfortable fabric, the elevations 31 may be formed relatively hard on the inner shell 20 in order to press the contact sleeve 30 at points outwards.

As mentioned, it is also possible to provide no massage structures at all and design the surface, which contacts to the head of a customer, in a way only to be pleasant because of its material. This can be realized in single-layer or double-layer gloves, said at least two-layer variant again has the advantage that the material of the inner waterproof shell can be optimally configured for protection against moisture and harmful substances, while this has not to be considered for the outer sleeve. This can facilitate the formation of a surface perceived as pleasant.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

-   10 Glove -   20 Shell, inner shell -   21,22,23,24,25 Finger tube -   26 Ball of thumb section -   27 Wrist area -   30 Contact sleeve, outer sleeve, fabric -   31,31′ Elevation, nub, loop, massage structure 

1. A glove (10) for hairdressing equipment, comprising a waterproof shell (20), in which several finger tubes (21; 22; 23; 24; 25) are formed, wherein a surface (32) is formed on the outer side of the waterproof shell (20) in a way, that it is perceived as pleasant when the surface (32) is in contact with the head of a human.
 2. The glove according to claim 1, wherein the perceived as pleasant touch of the surface (32) with the head of a human is reached at least through massage structures on the surface (32).
 3. The glove according to claim 2, wherein on the surface (32) a plurality of elevations are formed (31;31′).
 4. The glove according to claim 3, wherein the elevations (31;31′) have the form of nubs.
 5. The glove according to claim 3, wherein the elevations (31;31′) have a polygonal or round, in particular a circular cross-section.
 6. The glove according to claim 3, wherein the height of the elevations (31;31′) are in the range of 0.15 mm to 10 mm, preferably between 0.15 mm to 8 mm, more preferably between 1 mm and 5 mm.
 7. The glove according to claim 3, wherein the width of the elevations (31;31′) in cross-section are in the range of 0.5 mm to 10 mm, preferably between 0.5 mm and 8 mm, more preferably between 1 mm and 5 mm.
 8. The glove according to claim 2, wherein the surface (32) consists of a textile fabric, in which the massage structures are formed.
 9. The glove according to claim 8, wherein the massage patterns are formed by elevated fibers and/or threads, knots and/or loops.
 10. The glove according to claim 1, wherein the perceived as pleasant touch of the surface (32) with the head of a human being is reached at least by the material of the surface (32).
 11. The glove according to claim 10, wherein the surface (32) consists of a material which produces low friction in contact with human hair.
 12. The glove according to claim 10, wherein the material is an elastic plastic, in particular from the group consisting of latex, nitrile and PVC.
 13. The glove according to claim 10, wherein the material is a natural fiber, particularly from the group of cotton, sisal, linen and flax.
 14. The glove according to claim 1, wherein the surface (32) is formed by the outer surface of the waterproof shell (20) itself.
 15. The glove according to claim 1, wherein the surface (31) is formed by a contact sleeve (30) fixedly or detachably mounted to the waterproof shell (20).
 16. The glove according to claim 15, wherein the contact sleeve (30) is water permeable. 